Machine for treating pipes and the like



Dec. 26, 1933. H. 1.. HARRISON I MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 19, 1928 17 sheds-sheet 1 Dc. 26, 1933. H. L. HARRISON I MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 19, 1928 v 17 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 26, 1933. H. 1.. HARRISON 1,941,002

MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 19. 1928 17 Sheets-Sheet s Dec. 26, 1933. HARRISON- 1,941,002

MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 19. 1928 17 Sheets-Sheet 4 Dec. 26, 1933. so 1,941,002

MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE 17 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 19, 1928 1933- H. L. HARRISON 1,941,002.

MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE.

Filed Dec. 19, 1928 17 Sheets-Sheet 6 Dec. 26, 1933. HARRISON 41,002

MACHINE FOR TREATING P'IPES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 19, 1928 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Dec. 26, 1933. H. L. HARRISON 1,941,002

MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE 17 Shets-Sheet 8 Filed Dec. 19, 1928 Dec. 26, 1933, H. L. HARRISON 1,941,002

MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 19, 1928 17 Sheets-Sheet 9 Deck 26, 1933; H. L. HARRISON 1,941,002

MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 19, 1928 r 17 Sheets-Sheet 10 #W: yamww dig Dec. 26, 1933.

H. 1,. HARRIS ON MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE 17 Shes-Sheet 11 Filed Dec. 19. 1928 Dec. 26, 1933. H. L. HARRISON MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 19. 1928 1'? sheets-sheet 12 Dec. 26, 1933. H. HARRISON MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 19, 1928 17 Sheets-Sheet l3 Dec. 26, 1933. H, L, HARRISON 1,941,002

MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE 71 "In nn/ $1,

Dec. 26, 1933. I H. L. HARRISON MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE 17 Shets-Sheet 15 Filed Dec; 19, 1928 Dec. 26, 1933.

H. L. HARRISON MACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 19, 1928 1,7 Sheets-Sheet l6 7 Dec. 26, 1933. H. 1.. HARRISON 1,941,002

HACHINE FOR TREATING PIPES AND THE LIKE Patented Dec. 26, 1933 1,941,002 MACHINE FOR TREIAI'kIgG PIPES AND THE Horace L. Harrison, New York, N. Y.

Application December 19, 1928 Serial No. 326,929

22 Claims.

My invention is concerned with machines and/or apparatus for treating pipes, pipe lines, cables, or the like, and it is designed to produce a machine which can be used for cleaning the exterior of pipes, pipe lines or cables, or Wrapping the same with felt or other flexible material, or for applying melted bitumen, or some similar coating material thereto, or for a combination of these treatments depending upon how and for what purpose the machine is equipped.

To this end it consists of a novel structure to which various implements may be applied and which will, when so equipped, carry said implements in a helical or circular path about the pipe or cable, as is necessary in wrapping the same, and which movement can be advantageously used in cleaning and coating such articles.

My invention is further concerned with such a structure mounted upon a self-propelled vehicle, the power plant of which may be employed to advance the vehicle, or operate the wrapping,

coating, or cleaning mechanism, or simultaneously for both purposes.

To these and various other ends, my invention consists in certain novel elements and combinations of elements, as will be hereinafter fully described, and the novel elements and combinations thereof particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing one form of my apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a plan view with the melting tank and oil reservoir removed;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but partly in central longitudinal section;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation on a larger scale;

Fig. 5 is a view in section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, but on a still larger scale;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5, but with a portion of the framework removed, the view being substantially on the section line 6--6 of Fig. .5;

Fig. 7 is a central longitudinal vertical section of the mechanism seen in Figs. 5 and 6;

Fig. 8 is a view in section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a wheel which may be employed to convey the mechanism;

Fig. 10 is a view in section on the line 10-10 of Fig. 9;

Figs. 11 and 12 are fragmentary views illustrating modifications of the structure shown in a Fig. 9;

Fig. 13 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 1 but showing a modification of the means for delivering the liquids through the apparatus;

Fig. 14 is a view in section on the line 14-14 of Fig. 13 but on a larger scale;

Fig. 15 is a central vertical section showing modified forms of cleaning mechanism;

Figs. 16, 17 and 18 are fragmentary views as seen in section on the lines 16-16, 17-17 and 18-18 of Fig. 15;

Fig. 19 is a central vertical section showing a modification of the felt applying mechanism;

Figs. 20 and 21 are views in section on the lines 20-20 and 21-21 of Fig. 19;

Figs. 22, 23 and 24 are top plan views and side elevations, respectively, of a modified mechanism for feeding the coating and covering mechanism along the pipe; and

Fig. 25 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the mechanism employing an endless block chain tread instead of the wheels of Fig. 1.

Carrying out my invention in its preferred form, I employ a framework preferably constructed mainly of angle irons or other structural members and joined together in any desired manner so as to produce a strong frame to support and permit the movement of the various working elements and support a portion of pipe line already constructed in place. On the forward and top portion of the frame I mount a gasoline engine 30, where such engine is employed to furnish the power, and provide the same with the customary clutch and/or gear shifting mechanism 31 by which its shaft may be connected to the power shaft 32 journaled in suitable hearings on the top of the frame. A tank 33 may be placed on the top of the frame and carry a supply of fuel oil for the burner 34, which heats the contents of the kettle 35 suitably mounted on the top of the frame and designed to furnish liquid bituminous or similar coating material, the tank 33 being connected with the burner 34 by a pipe 36. The tank 33, or a portion thereof, may be employed to hold the gasoline, or other fuel, for the engine 30 and will be connected therewith by pipe 37 similar to that shown. The framework is preferably mounted on four wheels, the rear wheels 38 being adapted to be driven by the gearing hereinafter described, while the front wheels 39 are mounted in the manner similar to the front wheels of automobiles, made to follow paths parallel to axis of the pipe line and parallel to each other, being guided by the arms A which are attached to steering knuckles B (Fig. 4) and also to suitable circular tie plate which bears on outside surface of the pipe.

As bestseen in Fig. 4, I form in the front and rear of the framework, the support 45 of a generally inverted U'-shape, and in said support I mount the top rollers 46 which are of the size and shape adapted to cooperate with the pipe 47 being operated on. Beneath the pipe I mount the similar rollers 48, the bearings 49 of which are vertically movable in and removable from the frame 45, they being held pressed upward when in place by the helically coiled expanding springs 50 mounted in the frame. All of the mechanism subsequently described as located directly beneath the pipe 47 is arranged so that it can be opened up, or a portion thereof removed, so that the pipe 47 can be lifted up from the trench 51, shown in Fig. 4, or from the surface of the ground, so as to bring the pipe 47 into the position shown in Fig. 4. For the purpose of lifting the pipe by power, I show a journal in the central portion of the framework, toward the upper end thereof, the shaft 52, which has the drums 53 and 54 secured on the ends or loosely mounted thereon, the drums 53 and 54 being loosely mounted on the shaft as shown adjacent to drum 53, and adapted to be connected therewith by the sliding clutch member 54a, which can be shifted into and out of operative position from'the seat 44 by the connecting link 55 and the clutch shifting lever 56 pivoted on the frame at 57, as seen in Fig. 2. The shaft 52 has secured on its outer end the sprocket wheel 58, which is connected by the sprocket chain 59 with the sprocket wheel 60 on the shaft 32 and adapted to be connected with the engine shaft by the clutch 31. When the pipe 47 is to be lifted into place, the customary tongs are placed about it and connected to .cables or ropes which will be wound on the drums 53 and 54 to lift the pipe as the shaft 52 is rotated.

Splined on the shaft 52 is the driving sleeve 61, best seen in Fig. 7, which has secured on the ends thereof the disks 62, which have the annular channels 63 in their peripheries adapted to cooperate with the peripheries of the pair of circular plates 64. The disks 62 are also provided with the sprocket teeth 65, so that they are, in effect, sprocket wheels. The circular plates 64 have the central opening to accommodate the pipe 47, and made up of two semi-circular sections, as seen in Fig. 8, the two sections being held in place by being secured by the bolts 66 to the castings 67, which are likewise made in semi-circular sections which are secured together by the bolts 68 and semi-circular plates 69, seen in Fig. 5. These bolts 68 and semi-circular plates 69 also serve to secure to the casting 67 the segments 70 having the helical flanges 71 on the peripheries thereof for a purpose tobe hereafter described. The castings 67, when secured together, form as a part thereof a'sprocket wheel on account of the sprocket teeth 72 formed thereon, as seen in Fig. 7. It also forms the major part of the annular receptacle 73, the inner face of which receptacle is formed by the annular brush coating or wiping member 74, which is provided with the inwardly projecting bristles 75 and with the apertures 76 therethrough. These castings 67 are rotated by the sprocket chains 77 cooperating with the sprocket wheel 65 and the additional set of sprocket teeth 78 formed on the castings 67. The annular channels 73 may be supplied with'suitable solvents where the brushes or other scrubbing or wiping members are used for cleansing, or with melted bitumen, etc., where they are used for coating the pipe 47. The solvents or melted bitumen, as the case may be, is taken from the kettle, or some similar container, by the flexible pipes 79, seen in Fig. 1, secured at their upper ends to the Ts 80, which are connected bythe shut-off cocks 81 with the bottom of the kettle. The inner ends of the pipes 79 are connected through an aperture in the stationary annulus 82 Fig. 7, or as shown as 174 Fig. 19, held against the open side of the rotating annular chamber 73. With this construction, as the castings 67 are rotated, as hereinafter described, the liquid, whether water or solvent or paint material or melted bitumen, etc. can flow through the perforations 76 and to the brushes or wiping slings 75 which it is spread on the surface of the pipe 47. Where the pipe is to be wrapped with wire for any purpose, the spool 83 containing the wire 84 may be journaled upon a pin 85 held or mounted on one of the plates 64.

The two plates 64 are connected by the pair of rods 86 set diagonally and having the rollers 87 thereon, on which rollers are placed the rolls of felt 88, seen in Fig. 1, which are applied to the pipe as they are rotated about thepipe and at the same time advanced along the length thereof. The angles at which the rods 86 are set relative to the line of the pipe will determine the pitch of the felt wrapped thereon.

The rotary mechanism thus far described is supported by the pair of shafts 89 and 90, similar to the shaft 52, but joumaled in thelower part of the frame and toward the sides thereof so that the flanged disks 92 formed or secured on the ends of the driving sleeves93 will support the adjacent edges of the circular plates 64. The castings 65 have been previously described as driven by the sprocket chains 77 and the sprocket teeth 72 operate the sprocket chains 94 and 95,

which cooperate with the sprocket wheels 96 and Q 97 (see Fig. 5), splined on the shafts 89 and 90, said sprocket wheels being rigidly secured to, or integral with, the respective ends of the driving sleeves 93. By the train of gearing thus described, when the shaft 52 is rotated through the connections heretofore described, the shafts member 100 will be employed. The other end of the shaft 101 is provided with a worm 103 indie cated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and meshing with a worm gear wheel 104 secured on the hub of the Wheels 38. The gearing thus described may be timed or arranged by suitable alternate construction so as to advance the entire machine over the ground at the same or related speed to that speed by which the pipe is treated and wound by the mechanism rotating about it for that purpose, heretofore described. I

Under some conditions, however, it is desirable to operate the apparatus while the machine is standing still, and where this condition exists, the mechanism to be now described must be employed:

As best seen in Figs. 5 and 6, the helical flanges or teeth 71 on the peripheries of the wheels mesh or engage the idle friction rollers 105, which are joumaled on the ends of the rivets or pins 106 which connect the links 107 and 108 of the endless chains seen in Figs. 1 and 3. The lower run of these chains are guided between the angle irons 109 and 110, seen in Figs. 1, 3 and 5, while the upper run may be guided by angle iron 111, seen in Fig. 1. The chains are sprocket chains carried by the pair of sprocket wheels 112 joumaled in the forward end of the frame, and 113 journaled in the rear end of the frame. Assuming that the chains are held stationary as by locking the wheel 112 or 113 and, as the wheels 70 rotate, their helical flanges 71 will cause them to be advanced slowly from the position shown in the rear of the machine in Fig. 1, to a corresponding position in the forward end of i the machine. If the machine is stationary and the wheels 70 are to be returned from the position in the forward end of the machine to that in the rear end of the machine, then the wheels 112 must be rotated in a clockwise manner, and the lower run of the chain engaging the helical flanges 71 will carry the wheels 70 and the entirecleaning and wrapping mechanism. to the rear. To rotate the wheels 112, I employ the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2, where it will be seen that the shaft 32 has on the rear end thereof the bevel friction gear 114 adapted to mesh or engage the bevel pinions 115 splined on the transverse shaft 116, journaled in suitable bearings on the framework. The position of the pinions 115 is controlled by the handle 117 located at the seat 44 and connected to the bell crank lever 118 fulcrumed on the frame and in turn connected by the link 119 to the bell crank lever 120 likewise fulcrumed on the frame and connected by the link 121 to the bell crank lever 122 fulcrumed on the forward portion of the frame and having at its inner end the customary fork for engaging the annular channel in the clutch shifting mechanism for the bevel pinions 115. The ends of the shaft 116 have secured thereon the belt wheels 123 which are connected by the belts 124 with the belt wheels 125 secured on the outer end of the shafts 126, which have the sprocket wheels 112 secured on the inner ends thereof. By the connections shown, it will be obvious that the cleaning and wrapping mechanism may be shifted by power from the front to the rear of the machine while the whole is at rest or continuously operated.

I have previously described the annular receptacles 73 and the brushes as used either for cleaning the pipe when solvents or abrasives are supplied thereto, or for coating the pipe when the melted bitumen, paint material, etc., is employed. Under some circumstances, I may want to smooth the fabric that is applied from the rolls 88 and coat the same, and for this purpose I may employ what I call the ironing shoes, shown in Figs. 6 and 8, where it will be seen that the rods 127 connect the plates 64 and have secured thereon the bearings 128 in which slide the circular hollow stems 129 of the hollow shoes 130. An expanding spring 131 in the hollow stems serves to hold the shoes yieldingly against the pipe 47. The hollow shoes are supplied with the bitumen from the annular channel 73 by the flexible tubes 132 let into the channel 73 at one end while the other ends, as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 8, enter the rear wall of the shoes. These shoes are provided with the perforations 133 by which the bitumen can pass from the shoes on to the fabric wall and wound on the pipe 47, but which is not shown in Fig. 8.

Referring to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the ring 82, constituting the stationary side of the annular chamber 73 is split horizontally, so that the lower half can be removed in bringing the pipe 47 into place, and that the two halves are connected by bolts 134 passed through the ends of the brace bars 135 and into the body of the ring. These brace bars extend upwardly and outwardly, their upper ends being made parallel to the sides of the frame and being preferably provided with the anti-friction rollers 136 designed to cooperate with the underside of the angle bars 137 constituting a part of the'horizontal top of the frame. I may rivet to the upper ends of these bars 135, the cross bars 138 which may have a curvature in the center thereof to accommodate the sleeve 61.

In Figs. 9 and 10, I show a preferred form of construction for the wheels 38 and 39, where it will be seen that the central spider 140 carrying the hub has the rim 141 which carries the yokes 142 which embrace one side of the springs 143, the ends of which are fulcrumed to the links 144, the other ends of these links are fulcrumed to the bearings 145 secured on the inner periphery of the heavy combined rim 146 which may be of any desired design for traction purposes. In Fig. 11, I illustrate a modification in which instead of employing the complete elliptical springs 143, I employ the semi-elliptical springs 147, and in Fig. 11, I show the ends connected by the links 148 pivotally connected to the links 144, so that the fiexure of the springs may be limited. In Fig. 12, I show a similar construction, except that instead of employing the rigid link 148, I employ a helically coiled contractile spring 149 which functions somewhat as the omitted side of the elliptical spring as well as a link.

In Figs. 13 and 14, I illustrate a modification in which the melted bitumen, or wash solution, as the case may be, is delivered to the annular receptacles 73 by rigid connections instead of the flexible tubes '79, shown in Fig. 1. In this modification, the melted bitumen or cleansing solvents, or whatever liquid is employed, is delivered from the kettle 35 through a pair of pipes 150 leading downwardly and outwardly therefrom and discharging into the parallel troughs 151 which are supported by connections 152 to the brace bars 135, as well as by the tubes 153 leading therefrom to the respective annular chambers 73 which they supply with the melted bitumen in all positions of the cleaning and wrapping mechanism, since the troughs 151, as best seen in Fig. 13, are of sufiicinet length so that they will be beneath the pipes 150 in all possible positions of said wrapping mechanism. These troughs may be designed as either open or closed to the atmosphere.

In Figs. 15 to 18, I illustrate modifications of the construction of the cleaning and brushing mechanisms, as it will be'seen that on the righthand side in Fig. 1, I substitute for the brushes or bristles heretofore described, a set of annular abrading rings 154, which may be composed of any desirable material for that purpose and which are pressed into service by the helically coiled expanding springs 155 interposed between the inner periphery of the channeled ring 156 forming the inner periphery of the hollow chamber 73 and the curved plates 157 which bear directly on the abrading rings. At the center of said Fig. 15, I illustrate an annular cleaning brush or sand blast applying annuar nozzle rings, 

